MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe, which was founded by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet in 1926, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. When it all started in a little Parisian apartment on Rue Montmartre, the founder’s only staff was his secretary. He would never have thought that, 90 years later, his Groupe would be one of the three largest in the world, with close to 80,000 employees.
Back then, Publicis Groupe began just like many of today’s start-ups. It is with its founder in mind, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit of so many of its employees around the world, that Publicis Groupe has chosen to celebrate its 90th anniversary by providing mentoring, support and funding to 90 entrepreneurial projects in the digital field.
To take part, projects can be submitted via the Publicis90 platform (www.publicis90.com), which will be available online as of 18 January.
The platform will fund students, new start-ups, successful entrepreneurs or even a Publicis Groupe employee anywhere in the world, who can put forward their idea and apply for support from the Groupe. The goal is to provide entrepreneurs with the support they need to bring their projects to life, or to take it to the next level.
The Publicis90 platform will be open for submissions until 28 February. Projects will be pre-selected by region (the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe-Middle-East & Africa), with a first round of votes open to all Publicis Groupe employees (all projects submitted remain anonymous). A regional jury will then draw up a short-list from the pre-selected projects, before the final selection is made by a prestigious global jury that will pick the 90 most promising projects or start-ups.
The selected projects will be mentored by Publicis Groupe experts in marketing, communications, management and technology. They will also receive funding in the form of an investment ranging from 10,000 euros for projects about to be launched to 500,000 euros for start-ups that are already ramping up. As for selected projects submitted by Publicis Groupe employees, they will have the benefit of a special internal incubation scheme.
The holders of the 90 selected projects will be invited to participate to Viva Technology Paris, the first forum in France to bring together the people who matter most in digital throughout the world with over 5,000 start-ups. This event – created by Publicis Groupe and Groupe Les Echos – will be held from 30 June to 2 July, 2016 at the Paris Expo Exhibition Centre at Porte de Versailles. The 90 selected projects will be honoured at an awards ceremony held during Viva Technology Paris.
Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Levy said, “Publicis90 is very much in line with the philosophy of Publicis Groupe and its founder, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet. The idea is to help young entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Not just through investment but also by putting Groupe resources at their disposal for a year. Rather than look back and pat ourselves on the back for 90 years of history, we have taken the forward-looking approach of extending a helping hand to young entrepreneurs.”
